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How to Buy Gadgets in China And Not Get Screwed

Wallet full of cash and bags at ready, I stood, mouth agape, in front of the five-story electronics bazaar in front of me. It was one of several dozen in Shanghai, magical places where floor after floor are filled to bursting with gadget vendors begging you to stop by and see their wares. Like Circuit Cities on crack, everyone inside is desperate to make a sale and every price is negotiable. Welcome to the way the Chinese—or at least the majority who live in megacities like this one—buy their electronics. More »

12:00 PM on Mon Oct 6 2008
By Elaine Chow
3,547 views, 42 comments

Latest by Lupus_Yonderboy: @os_2: Yeah, right? Or on Newegg... "How much for that memory?" "$100." "I'll give you fifty bucks." "Sold!" more »

rumor

Apple's 'Brick' is a Revolutionary Aluminum Manufacturing Process?

9to5 Mac has gone on record as saying that the rumored Apple Brick isn't a product, but a manufacturing process that can make high quality aluminum shells. The "brick" part comes in because the supposed technique carves these MacBook casings with lasers and high pressure water jets out of bricks of aluminum, making for a seamless and screwless design. Whether or not it's true is still left to be seen, but one benefit would mean that there would be no need to bend metal (which creates weak spots). Again, no idea if this is legit, but 9 to 5 Mac has a fairly decent track record, which they conveniently point out at the end of their post. [9 to 5 Mac]

7:12 PM on Sat Oct 4 2008
By Jason Chen
30,017 views, 122 comments

Latest by Justifan: @drallac: they wouldn't waste aluminum. why? cost!! many manufacturing processes create scrap material. most of the time this is saved and recycled for no other reason that to not waste money. yes it costs more than a simpler process like stamping metal, but nicer production tends to cost more!! apple has had a history of more »

kindle

Amazon's Kindle 2 Suddenly Appears

Boy Genius just unveiled shots of what is very likely the Kindle 2. Notice the follow-up to the snowspeeder-like original Amazon e-book reader is more rounded, more early-iPod in its proportions, but still white with the same basic screen. The cool sparkly LCD status bar seems to be gone, a joystick has replaced the clickwheel, and the other buttons are smaller for fewer accidental page turns. No word on the availability of this baby, of course. As you might expect, Boy Genius has quite a few more pictures, and more details too, so feel free to drop on over there to have a look. We'll be here when you're ready to comment. [BGR]

8:57 PM on Fri Oct 3 2008
By Wilson Rothman
24,658 views, 79 comments

Latest by Dinotech: Screw e-books. I want ink on paper. more »

Minifig Contest Reminder

Baseball Bat Can Break Lego Minifig Legs

Believe it or not, there are no baseball bats in the Lego universe. Why? Probably because a minifig could use one to break another minifig's plastic cranium. And we all know that you can't use weapons in Lego's universe, much less break minifig craniums. This is why Brickarms, the dealer of All Things Violent for Lego minifigs, has released the baseball bat weapon, including a psychopath minifig posing with it for their publicity shots: More »

7:20 PM on Fri Oct 3 2008
By Jesus Diaz
11,147 views, 22 comments

Latest by FuturePastNow: I have a ton of rifles and six-shooters from the " Western LEGO sets, some muzzle-loading rifles from the Pirate sets, and knives from the sets with divers. Not to mention all the swords, axes, spears, crossbows and so on from the Castle series. There have most definitely been LEGO weapons. more »

iphone apps

The Week in iPhone Apps: Fresh Fring and Other Diversions

Lots of news to catch up on this week from the App Store. So come have a look, iPhone folks, at what you may have missed on Giz this week, in addition to a few of our picks for new apps of the last seven days as always. We're excited first and foremost that Fring, a great multi-service IM and VoIP app, has just made it into the App Store (not even in the search index yet). Good thing, because the rest of this week's pics skew a bit toward the wacky side. But sometimes your weekend just needs a little wahh wahhhh...crickets...crickets.... More »

5:10 PM on Fri Oct 3 2008
By John Mahoney
45,144 views, 47 comments

Latest by Ryan Goins: This version of fring is almost as terrible as the pre-release jailbreak version. At least in terms of VOIP. All calls terminate 1 out of 3 times. However, skype to skype does work really well. The call quality is great and there is no delay. If more »

interview

VoodooPC Will Survive, But Confirms "Integration" into HP

I just got off the phone with Rahul Sood, founder of VoodooPC, who confirmed that the rumors of Voodoo's demise were not just premature but "nonsense," but said "HP is asking us to integrate into the larger execution engine." Rahul is comfortable speaking both plainly and in business-ese—what we take this to mean is that Voodoo will merge manufacturing with HP's core in Asia, unify other non-design aspects of the business, and shut down a good chunk of the operation in Calgary, Alberta. "Typically we don't comment on layoffs specifically," says Rahul, who adds that he himself will not be leaving Canada. More »

5:02 PM on Fri Oct 3 2008
By Wilson Rothman
4,035 views, 10 comments

Latest by hindsight2020: i smell witchcraft in the air! more »

streaming media

Sling Pro HD Review

The Gadget: Sling Pro HD is the top of the line Slingbox that streams your cable to any computer that can connect to the internet. The Sling Pro HD is a big step forward for Sling, now centered around the full HD experience, with component inputs, and OVA tuner, and 1080 HD streaming not just over local networks, but remote connections as well.
More »

12:00 PM on Fri Oct 3 2008
By Adrian Covert
9,484 views, 34 comments

Latest by shockwaver: When I worked for Futureshop, we (read: I) put up a slingbox as a demo unit to sell them. Naturally having the admin info for the router we used, I set it up so I could watch it from home. A bit of handy work with the demo media center more »

New Sony Reader

Hands On: Sony's New PRS-700 Touchscreen Reader

Sony brought out a new Reader tonight in NYC that adds a six-inch touchscreen to the e-ink e-reader for adding notes and annotations, as well as a redesigned case and built-in frontlight. With the touchscreen readers can enter text with a stylus on a full-screen QWERTY keyboard to add notes and annotations, search for specific phrases or just flip through the page with a stylus or finger swipe. It'll hit at the end of October for around $400. Hit the jump for more impressions.

More »

7:18 PM on Thu Oct 2 2008
By John Mahoney
19,288 views, 41 comments

Latest by ExtendedRockyMontage: @daftrok: Comparing the two media is inane. Listen to a CD, listen to an MP3, what's the difference to your ear? None. The only difference is portability, which deems the digital medium the winner. Read a book, read an e-reader, what's the difference to your eyes more »

panic

10 Gadgets to Help You Survive the Oncoming Economic Apocalypse

Well, things aren't looking too great economy-wise. We might just be headed for a depression, which means you'll need to start changing your lifestyle. While you may start out by changing your lifestyle in subtle ways, you need to be mentally prepared for the fact that more, well, drastic measures may be necessary in the not-too-distant future. Luckily, I've hand-picked 10 gadgets that may be necessary in our frightening, Lehman-Brothersless future.

More »

2:00 PM on Thu Oct 2 2008
By Adam Frucci
35,019 views, 75 comments

Latest by nocturnus: @tamoko: fear the roflcopter. more »

rumor

Nvidia Launch Points to Possible October 14 MacBook Intro

It seems like the stars are aligning for that rumored MacBook intro event on October 14. Nvidia, which was supposed to launch their MCP7A chipset on September 30, has announced the chipset will actually be available right after the alleged Apple event. Apparently, the new chipset—which is rumored to be part of the new MacBooks—bests Intel's own G45 in the graphics and audio department. More »

12:47 PM on Thu Oct 2 2008
By Jesus Diaz
18,587 views, 36 comments

Latest by lpranal: @weatherman: @iGo: As the owner of a macbook pro with an ATI x1600, and a desktop w/ HD4850, I have to aggree. my MBP holds its own considering its age (over 2 years) and the 4850 flies. I have a feeling AMD is probably pretty tepid about providing more »

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